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  RETURN TO HOLLOW INN

  Samantha Wolf Mysteries

  #10

  TARA ELLIS

  RETURN TO HOLLOW INN

  Copyright © 2019 Tara Ellis

  Cover art design Copyright © Melchelle Designs

  http://melchelle.designs.com/

  Models: Breanna Dahl, Janae Dahl

  Photographer: Tara Ellis Photography

  Map photo: Vectoreez.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Samantha Wolf Mysteries

  1. The Mystery of Hollow Inn

  2. The Secret of Camp Whispering Pines

  3. The Beach House Mystery

  4. The Heiress of Covington Ranch

  5. The Haunting of Eagle Creek Middle School

  6. A Mysterious Christmas on Orcas Island

  7. The Case of the Curious Canine

  8. The Legend of Shadow Mountain

  9. The Mystery of Old Gully Trail

  10. Return to Hollow Inn

  11. The Secrets of Sanctuary (TBA)

  Find these and Tara’s other titles on her author page at Amazon!

  amazon.com/author/taraellis

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Return to Hollow Inn is a special book for me, since it brings the story full-circle back to where it all began. I started writing The Mystery of Hollow Inn (book #1) when I was only fifteen years old. After some heavy editing and a couple of new chapters, I first published it five years ago. It was originally based on myself and best friend, Lisa. Because of this, revisiting Hollow Inn was a bit nostalgic for me and it was important to me to capture the same feeling as the first book. I hope you feel this new mystery is a classic ‘Sam and Ally’ caper, and have as much fun as I did, following them on their adventure!

  A special thank you to Debbie and Annie for all of their help. To Annamarie for being an amazing ARC reader, and my mom, Linda for once again supporting me one chapter at a time!

  Sit back, put your feet up, and escape with me to the world of Samantha Wolf!

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Samantha Wolf Mysteries

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. HOLLOW INN REUNION

  2. LOST AND FOUND

  3. YES, MA’AM

  4. CABINS ON THE LAKE

  5. COUSIN OF MINE

  6. SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR

  7. STRANGER THINGS

  8. SHADOWS

  9. JACKSON RUN REVELATIONS

  10. COOKED-UP INTENTIONS

  11. STILL A LEGEND

  12. MISSING LANDMARKS

  13. A SOLID PLAN

  14. A TRAIL OF FOLLY

  15. MOUNTING CLUES

  16. NOT WHAT IT SEEMS

  17. RISING STORMS

  18. THE DRAGON’S LAIR

  19. RECONCILIATION

  20. ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  1. HOLLOW INN REUNION

  Tilting her head back, Sam looks up at the majestic Rocky Mountains rising behind Hollow Inn. Her aunt and uncle have spent the past two years renovating the three-story mansion, nestled in the middle of over two hundred private, wooded acres located deep in the mountains of Montana.

  Samantha Wolf and her best friend, Allyson Parker, were guests at the inn the summer before, and their visit led to the first mystery they’d ever solved. Sam was afraid the inn might have changed since they were there last, but aside from a new roof and paint, it looks the same.

  Aunt Beth rushes down the wide front steps of Hollow Inn, her arms open so she can embrace Sam and Ally at the same time. Sam’s laugh is muffled by her aunt’s shoulder, and she gasps for air as they break apart.

  “Hold still for a minute and let me get a good look at you!” Aunt Beth demands, holding Sam by the shoulders at arm’s length. “You must have grown at least two inches this past year. You’ll be taller than me soon!”

  Sam beams at her aunt, happy she noticed her most recent growth spurt. She turned thirteen the month before, finally breaking through into the teens with Ally. While Sam has changed in some ways, she still wears her long brown hair in a shoulder-length cut and prefers her favorite blue jeans. Her green eyes flash as her smile widens.

  Aunt Beth hasn’t changed at all. Her dark hair is pulled up in a messy bun, and an apron is draped over her casual clothes. She emanates an air of authority and restless energy. In her mid-forties, Beth has a rather round figure but is as strong as an ox.

  “And Ally!” Beth says, turning to the smaller, red-haired girl. “You still haven’t caught up to Sam, but I’m quite certain you’re getting taller.”

  “I’ve accepted the fact that I’m destined to be short, Mrs. Clark,” Ally answers good-naturedly. “Thank you for inviting us!”

  “My only regret is it’s been so long and that your brothers and Cassy couldn’t come with you. And Ally,” Beth continues, “I know it’s been a year, but please drop the formality and call me Aunt Beth, or I might start to believe I’m over forty.”

  Sam’s smile falters at the mention of their friends. Closing her eyes, Sam tries to push aside the guilt of leaving her brother Hunter, Ally’s brother John, and their close friend Cassy behind. The boys have football camp this whole week, and Cassy needed to stay and help with the horse ranch she and her sister run. Sam and Ally are working through the summer with Cassy at Covington Ranch, but this week there aren’t any riding classes. Cassy insisted they go to Hollow Inn without her when Sam got the invitation.

  Sam opens her eyes when Ally wraps an arm around her shoulders in a familiar gesture. Looking at her best friend, she’s instantly reassured. Ever since their last visit to the Montana estate, they’ve talked about coming back. Although they ended up in trouble when they got carried away solving an old legend, their escapades saved the inn and gave her aunt and uncle the money to complete some much-needed repairs.

  “Don’t worry, Sam,” Ally says, giving her a squeeze. “We have most of the summer to hang out with Cassy, and all of us are going camping next month!”

  Sam’s smile grows. Ally is referring to a big trip Cassy’s sister is planning for the whole gang. She’s even renting a motor home.

  “I’m sorry your Uncle Bill didn’t meet the bus,” Aunt Beth is saying. She motions to the cab driver waiting patiently behind them with their bags. “Just set those on the steps, Eric.” She then waves an arm toward Florence Lake, barely visible in the valley.

  “Every Saturday, your uncle hosts a public tour of Hollow Inn. It ends in a BBQ down at the lake. It was done an hour ago, so he’s just cleaning up and will be joining us shortly.”

  “But we have to leave next Friday,” Sam replies. “Can we still go on the tour? I remember when Ted came up with the idea. Where is he? I thought he might pick us up like last time.”

  Sam had been surprised to see the cab when she and Ally stepped off the bus in the nearby town of Jackson Run. Ted, a teen who’d been working as a handyman on the estate, ended up being a big piece of the Hollow Inn puzzle.

  “Want me to charge your account, Mrs. Clark?” the cab driver asks.

  “Yes please, Eric. Thank you very much.” Beth waits until he gets back into his vehicle before turning to the girls. “We do a private tour every Monday for our guests, Sam, so you won’t miss out. I’m sorry to say that Ted isn’t working for us this summer. He had
to return home a couple of weeks ago to take care of some things, but he said to tell you both hi for him.”

  Sam tries to hide her disappointment by gathering up their bags to take inside. “Are we staying in the same rooms?”

  “Leave your things there for now,” Beth instructs. Raising a hand to shade the intense late-afternoon sun from her eyes, she looks toward a new gravel road that branches off from the driveway.

  Sam follows her gaze and figures the road must lead to the lake and new guest cabins. None of it was there the previous summer and was part of the renovation. The trail through the woods she and Ally used before took over an hour to navigate, so the road made sense.

  “Bill should be back any minute with the golf cart so we can load your bags up,” Beth says. When Sam and Ally exchange a questioning look, she opens the front door and steps aside so they can enter. “Come on. Let’s go get a snack, and I’ll explain.”

  Stepping inside, Sam feels a small thrill. It’s exactly as she remembers. A large oak staircase fills the main hall, leading to the second floor. The rich wood floors are all freshly waxed and match the wainscoting that adorns most of the walls. The house is filled with intricate, custom woodwork. Aside from the bright and airy kitchen her aunt remodeled, it’s like a portal to the past.

  The mansion was built in 1901 by Shawn Hollow for his wife, Florence. Sam and Ally read his journal on their first visit, which was how they had solved the legend. The Hollows had four sons: Christopher, Michael, Thomas, and Joseph. Florence died during Joseph’s birth, which in part led to the ultimate trouble at Hollow Inn. That and a cave-in at the gold mine on the property. It’s boarded up now, and Sam is certain it’s a featured part of the tour.

  Leading the way to the right and into the huge country-themed kitchen, Beth claps her hands together. “Girls,” she begins while pulling out bread and fixings for sandwiches. “There’s been a change in plans. I know that before I was against your staying in one of the guest cabins due to the distance from the main house, but I took a new reservation this morning for a family of four. They specifically requested to stay in the mansion, which means giving them your connecting rooms.”

  Sam’s excitement surges. “You really mean it, Aunt Beth? We get to stay in one of the new cabins?”

  Beth’s eyes flit toward Ally, unsure the other girl shares Sam’s enthusiasm. Ally is the more cautious of the two, and their last visit involved some very real danger.

  “We’ll be fine!” Ally is quick to add. “We’ve done lots of camping, and I’m sure we won’t be the only ones down there… right?” Her voice wavers as she considers them being all alone that far out in the woods.

  “I would never let you stay in the cabins unsupervised!” Beth counters. “As luck would have it, I’ve got the perfect chaperone. I was extremely fortunate to find out about a woman looking for work the day after Ted left. Her name is Tori Castle, and she’s staying in the caretaker’s cabin. She said she’d be more than happy to keep an eye on you.”

  Sam’s wicked imagination instantly conjures up a witchlike image of an old woman with a prominent wart. Laughing at herself, she figures no matter what, if it means getting to stay in a cabin, it’ll be worth it.

  “You can move back up here Tuesday if you’d like,” Beth says. “The family is arriving late tonight and leaving Monday afternoon.”

  “Can we stay there the whole week if we want?” Sam asks while taking the offered sandwich from her aunt.

  Beth chuckles. “Yes, Sam. You’re welcome to say down at the lake so long as you don’t give Tori any grief. Or… your cousin Kevin.”

  Sam stops midbite, her food forgotten. “Kevin? Kevin Wolf is here?”

  Before her aunt has a chance to explain, a radio attached to her hip squawks to life.

  “Beth. Beth, come in. Do you read?”

  Beth unclips the radio and replies, “I’m here, Bill. Are you almost back? I have a couple of visitors who would like to see you!”

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes, but Beth? There’s a problem. You need to call the sheriff.”

  2. LOST AND FOUND

  “The sheriff? Whatever for?” Beth looks at the radio in her hand like it might bite her.

  “The Carsons’ little boy went missing on the far side of the lake.” Bill’s voice fades in and out over the rumble of the cart’s motor. “…there in a few minutes… explain then.”

  “Well, for heaven’s sake,” Beth mumbles after setting the radio on the kitchen counter. Wiping her hands on her apron, she looks around distractedly before focusing on the fact that she needs to make the phone call. Stomping from the kitchen into the back hall, there are audible clicks as she punches numbers.

  Sam knows the old-style phone is the only one located downstairs. They still don’t have either cell service or Wi-Fi but very slow internet dial-up. Her aunt and uncle claim being disconnected is part of the allure of the inn for their guests.

  Ally takes another slow bite of her sandwich while sitting quietly on a wooden barstool. They ate a late lunch at one of the stops during the ten-hour bus ride, but that was over three hours ago. She raises her eyebrows at Sam over her glass of milk.

  “I don’t know what we should do,” Sam whispers back, her food forgotten. She jumps as the front door bangs open.

  “Beth!” a deep voice booms.

  Sam meets her uncle at the entrance to the kitchen, giving him a brief hug.

  “Sam, good to see you and Ally made it here okay. Sorry for the drama but we’ve got a situation right now that can’t wait. Beth!” he calls again while his large frame lumbers across the kitchen.

  Bill’s a big man with broad shoulders and graying hair. Although around fifty, he hasn’t slowed down as far as Sam can tell. He stops at a supply closet near a back door that leads to the sweeping grounds of the inn. Pulling out a backpack, he drops two flashlights inside before going to the fridge to add some bottles of water.

  “The sheriff is on his way,” Beth announces upon reentering the kitchen. “But we need to update him with more information as soon as possible. He’ll be here in about forty minutes.”

  Turning from the fridge, Bill acknowledges Beth with a nod as he zips the pack up. “Good. You can call him back in a minute, but first I need to know where I put the map of the property.”

  “It’s in the office.” Beth motions for her husband to follow as she leads the way back through the foyer and into the den, where an ornate desk takes up a far corner.

  Sam scurries after them, grabbing Ally by the arm and pulling her along. Ally crams the last of her sandwich into her mouth to avoid dropping it and nearly falls off the stool.

  “Sorry,” Sam whispers, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. She’d like to hear what’s going on and is afraid her aunt will shoo them out of the room. Stopping at the threshold of the den, she eagerly waits while the two adults begin to rifle through the desk.

  “I’m almost certain that—ah! Here it is,” Beth exclaims, waving a map in the air. “Now are you going to tell me what happened?”

  Bill breathes an audible sigh of relief as he takes the map from his wife. His mouth is set in a grim line, and he gives his head a defeated shake. “The Carsons didn’t think Bailey would sit still long enough for the tour and wanted to take the pedal boat across the lake for a picnic lunch instead.”

  “But we haven’t explored the property over there yet,” Beth replies.

  “Which is why I asked them to stay near the shore,” Bill counters. “I also had them take one of the two-way radios in case they had any issues. That’s how they got ahold of me. Apparently Bailey managed to wander off while they were loading their things back into the boat.”

  “What if he made his way back to the water?” Beth gasps, imagining the worst.

  “They’d already buckled his life vest on, and he can’t get it off by himself. They seem fairly certain he went into the woods.” Bill crams the map into an outside pocket on the pack before slinging
it over his shoulder. “I’ve got to go. Tori already headed across the lake to go look, but I thought it would be important to have the map in case he isn’t found right away.”

  Beth nods solemnly. “I’ll call the sheriff and wait here to meet him.”

  Sam moves aside as her aunt and uncle leave but takes advantage of the break in the conversation. “Ally and I can help!”

  Beth pauses, startled out of her frantic thoughts by the comment. “I’m not sure if that would be a good idea.”

  “But we’ve spent lots of time hiking,” Sam pleads. “We even managed to find our way out of the mountains in Alaska!” she adds, referring to the daring rescue she and her friends made after a plane crash.

  “It’s hard to argue with that,” Bill agrees. “Actually, it would be good to have as many eyes as possible, but you have to promise to stay within sight of me at all times.”

  Sam and Ally nod eagerly. “I promise, Uncle Bill,” Sam says while looking hopefully at her aunt.

  “Do you have sweatshirts?” Beth asks as they step onto the porch. She looks skeptically at their bags still piled at the base of the stairs. “Remember, it cools off quickly up here at night.”

  Sam rummages through their belongings while her uncle starts the golf cart. She quickly locates both their jackets and holds them up triumphantly to show Aunt Beth.

  Beth gives her a quick smile and waves them on. “Listen to your Uncle Bill. I’ll radio when the sheriff arrives.”

  Sam feels a sense of urgency as she and Ally clamber into the golf cart, pulling their bags in after them. It’s an extra-large cart that seats four people under a canopy as well as two more on a bumper seat off the back, where their legs can dangle. She and Ally opt for the row behind her uncle, and they hang on to the side rails as they speed off down the gravel road.